Finding their Danny
by Enray
Summary: Sequel to 'Defending their Hero'. Due to invention malfunction, Danny was split into two. Now we all know when there are two Dannys, things happen.
1. Chapter 1

After more than a year of waiting, the sequel to Defending their Hero is here.

**Disclaimer**: This really isn't needed at this point.

* * *

If it were anyone else, the person waltzing through the prison beside Walker as if he owned the place would have garnered more than a few curious stares. However, Plasmius was not just anyone, so the prison guards barely spared him a glance.

"Walker!" a prison guard called out as he hastened towards them.

"What is it?" Walker asked irritably.

"It's the halfa, sir. Prisoner 5563 and 5564 won't let him go."

Alarm grew in Plasmius but he kept his face carefully blank.

"Lead us to him," Walker said curtly.

They wasted no time navigating through the prison passageways until they reached a cell where the hallway was saturated with prison guards.

"Who did you leave Daniel with?" Plasmius asked Walker. Deep down, he already knew.

"Spectra and Bertrand. Your suggestion was to keep him mentally insecure," Walker replied.

The guards parted to allow them passage to the cell. Plasmius was not happy with what he saw.

A large lion stood at the opened door, batting away prison guards effortlessly as if swatting flies in the air. The way it carried itself screamed of arrogance and ecstasy. Things didn't look to be in Daniel's favour.

Behind the lion, Spectra had an arm wrapped around Daniel in a parody of a mother's embrace as she whispered poisonous words into his ear. Her green eyes lit up when her gaze met his. Her lips curved up at the corners and she tightened her hold on Daniel, bringing her other arm around Daniel's neck. Vlad silently seethed at her blatant challenge of his power. She was trying to control what belonged to him and she knew it, revelled in the illusion that she was strong enough to steal from _him_.

"Nobody loves you," Spectra whispered. For the first time since Vlad reached the cell, he noticed the son he had always wanted.

What he saw made his blood freeze.

The emerald orbs, once bright with confidence and determination were like twin black holes. They were empty, dull and seemed to draw him into its endless depths. The Daniel before him was completely broken. He took no notice of the fact that he was being held captive by an enemy. He did not seem aware of his surrounding. Daniel was like a puppet with his strings cut.

Perfect, if not for the fact that it was Spectra who broke him.

"You are unwanted," Spectra said softly into Daniel's ear.

Bertrand roared as the halfa's despair filled him. His power was so great that it was almost palpable, rolling off him like waves. It seemed that Daniel was functioning very efficiently as their battery. He had to take Daniel away from them. Energy could not be created or destroyed but it could be converted from one form to another. To make Bertrand so powerful, Daniel was being torn apart.

Already, the boy was having trouble keeping his form. His outline was hazy and his limbs were starting to take on the consistency of mist. A few times, he came close to fading away. With Daniel's state of mind, if he unravelled completely, he might not be able to put himself back together. Vlad would lose a valuable chess piece.

"I believe the boy is mine." Plasmius stepped boldly before the lion. Should a battle of power broke out, Vlad was confident that he had the upper hand.

"That's a lie. Your own parents abandoned you. Why should an outsider want you?" Spectra continued to poison Daniel's mind.

"I have great plans for young Daniel. If you become my son, Daniel, I can give you anything," Vlad said.

The dull eyes lit up briefly and Vlad caught a glimsp of the headstrong Daniel he was familiar with, but as soon as the spark appeared, it was snuffed out and the glazed look returned. Vlad felt a flicker of concern. Daniel had always been stubborn to a fault, always insisting that he would be the hero who would never give up. It made him wonder how deeply Spectra had dug. He didn't want to finally possess Daniel only to find him too broken for his purposes.

"I want you, Daniel. You will become my son and I will teach you my skills and secrets. The person who abandoned you can never comprehend your full potential but I can, Daniel. If you want to come with me, you have to take the first step. Let me know that you want me and I will come," Vlad said. He quietly readied himself for battle. Daniel should be able to respond not matter how deeply Spectra dug into his mind. If not, perhaps the teen was not such a good investment after all.

A game of waiting began. Vlad held his ground, doing nothing to neither encourage nor discourage Daniel. He needed Daniel to ask him to save him. In the future, should Daniel start accusing him of holding the teen against his will, Vlad would be able to point out that it was Daniel who asked Vlad to take him away.

Slowly, Daniel's lips parted and formed a word.

"Please."

The whisper reached Vlad's ears and he struck. A calculated ectoblast left the massive lion disorientated and easy prey for the rest of the guards. Plasmius headed straight for the other prisoner.

"Release him," Vlad said.

"You don't need him. I can make full use of him. Look at all this power. Even the air is filled with it. And the best thing is, I can drive him even deeper into despair." Spectra was flirting with the boundary between sanity and madness. She might have saturated the prison cell with power, but Bertrand couldn't control all of it and she was now paying for it. The sheer magnitude of power was making her drunk and slowly pushing her towards insanity. He personally wouldn't mind if she went crazy, but what of Daniel?

He slowly peeled Spectra off Daniel. The ghost was so drunk with power that she giggled while her feeble attempts to keep her hold on Daniel failed utterly against Vlad's strength. Pitiful. The display only showed that not everyone _could_ handle the power he and Daniel were destined to wield.

"I shall leave them to you," Plasmius said to Walker.

Looking down at Daniel, Vlad noticed that the boy could barely move. Young Daniel would need a good night's rest before he could be useful to anyone. Vlad swept Daniel into his arms.

"Let's go home."

* * *

I hope this was worth the wait.


	2. Chapter 2

This is a little late but I hope you enjoy it. Disclaimers aren't necessary anymore, are they?

* * *

Sleep had always come easily to Maddie Fenton. As a scientist, her mind required sufficient rest to function optimally. Maddie had also learned to take advantage of the dreams she had to improve her design and her husband's. Her subconscious was always helpful during her dreams, coming up with cutting edge ideas and imaginative solutions. Many of her best works were done in her dreams. Unless she was caught up with a stake out or a project, she always made sure she had sleep. Yet, tonight, sleep eluded her.

Not wanting to disturb her slumbering husband, Maddie silently slipped out form under the warm covers and left the room. Perhaps some warm milk would help her sleep.

As she headed towards the kitchen, she passed by Danny's room. Her feet came to a stop.

During the trip back from the Ghost Zone, Danny was subdued. He never spoke a word. Even after they had returned home, Danny was silent. He barely responded to them, not even when Sam and Tucker left the house. She was worried about him. Perhaps he was traumatized by the day's events. Being held hostage by a ghost would scare anyone.

Maddie quietly opened the door. All of a sudden, the need to be by her baby's side overwhelmed her. She had almost lost Danny to an ectoplasmic scum. It showed how vulnerable he was. Danny was easy prey to ghosts. Jazz and Danny were the reasons she and Jack became ghost hunters. They knew how fragile humans were against ghosts, that was why they worked so hard to invent weapons to level the field.

She settled down gently beside Danny on his bed. Pale moonlight slipped into the room and illuminated the tear track on Danny's cheek. With a sad smile, she brushed away the moisture with gentle fingers.

Perhaps in their efforts to protect their children against the supernatural, they had lost sight of their children. Since when was Danny's arm so toned? Did he work out? What did he do in his free time? How was his school life? Did he have any other friends beside Sam and Tucker?

Maddie quickly drew back her hand when Danny moaned and shifted. A fresh tear trailed down a cheek from the corner of his eye. She waited. When Danny showed no signs of waking, she laid her hand on his forehead and started to brush his hair from his face. She couldn't remember the last time she watched over her slumbering son, but she remembered how the gesture always soothed Danny, no matter how old he was.

After a few strokes, Danny gave a soft sigh and leaned into her touch. The brow which was furrowed before evened out as he relaxed. Danny didn't look like he was having any sweet dreams, but at least he didn't seem as if he was trapped in a never ending nightmare.

Son comforted, sleep sneaked onto her like a shadow and she yawned. Maddie gave the raven head one last pat, placed a kiss to Danny's bow and left the room on silent feet. She didn't make a sound as she closed the door and returned to her husband's side.

Behind the door, unnoticed by the ghost hunter, Danny shifted. His lips moved and a word as a soft as a zephyr left his lips.

"Mom…"

* * *

"We have to go back. We can't just leave Danny there."

"But Mr. and Mrs. Fenton made the lab off limits to everyone, even themselves."

"That has never stopped us before."

"They've _never_ made the lab off limits before."

Sam made an annoyed sound at the other end of the phone. When Sam wanted something, she would get it, either by negotiation or brute force. Even if she didn't have a plan yet, Tucker was sure that she would make something happen.

"What are you thinking?" Tucker asked.

"If we can use the Fenton Ghost Portal, good. If we can't, Vlad isn't that far away. We can't leave Danny split into two for long. Did you notice his hand?" Sam replied.

Tucker nodded, then he remembered that Sam couldn't see him. "Yeah."

When they were hanging around Danny during their first few hours back to the human world, Danny's hand would blur at the edges at random moments. Like a virus slowly eating away at data. They never saw that happen when Danny was split into two before that. Heck, they didn't even know _why_ there were two Danny's in the first place.

"I have a bad feeling something really bad's happening to the other Danny," Sam said worriedly.

"Danny's strong. He'll hold on until we get there. Once we get human Danny away from Mr. and Mrs. Fenton we'll go get ghost Danny," Tucker said.

"Hah!" He could imagine Sam rolling her eyes. "Mr. and Mrs. Fenton aren't going to leave him alone for a long time. The latest trip was the last straw."

"Then Danny's going to have to hold on for a long time."

Sam kept silent.

"Sam?" he asked.

"Do you think he's going to last?" Sam asked in a small voice.

"Truthfully? No."

"Same here."

Both of them didn't say a word as they pondered.

"Ideally, human Danny should be with us when we go get ghost Danny," Tucker said.

"But if we really can't kidnap Danny from his parents, we'll just have to go ourselves."

"Yeah."

Silence…

"We're going to kidnap Danny from his parents…"

"That sounds wrong on so many levels."

* * *

That's it for this week. For the next update, I'll probably be able to finally post the response to the challenge "dew drops".


	3. Chapter 3

My internet was and still is down so I couldn't upload anything. I apologize for the late update. After so much waiting, I hope this chapter is worth the wait.

* * *

It was odd to see Daniel hovering in the air as he slept. He himself had never slept while in ghost form, not intentionally, but he supposed it would be difficult to sleep on the bed when the blanket kept falling through him. Now that Daniel had separated from his human self, tangibility came with concentration.

Vlad closed the door quietly. In any other situation he would have just turned intangible and walked through the wall but Daniel's ghost sense would have woken him up. He didn't want Daniel know that he had taken his key.

Holding up the key, he examined it. Daniel probably didn't realize that the key existed, seeing that he was only functioning enough to survive. The key had been floating around him since lunch. If that wasn't strange enough, it would fade away and change its appearance at random moments.

The key disappeared. Vlad curled and uncurled his fingers to test if the key was merely invisible. It wasn't. Sugar biscuits. No matter, the key would appear again, that he was certain. He would study it after he could find a way to contain it. At least finding a suitable solution would be a good pastime. Daniel was showing no sign of coming out of his depression soon.

Vlad smiled.

Daniel wouldn't be calling Jack his father after he 'abandoned' him for a long time. Not if he played the boy right.

* * *

"Hey…" Tucker trailed off when his parents appeared behind him.

"Hey," Danny replied tiredly. Ever since they returned from the Ghost Zone, private moments were rare. His parents were always around, always within audible range and he had a sneaky suspicion that someone was in his room last night. On one hand, their constant presence stopped him from breaking down emotionally; on the other hand, their constant presence was starting to make him very antsy. Being watched all the time was very nerve wrecking. What if a ghost appeared?

Wait… He was only human at the moment. If a ghost really came, he might not be able to put up a decent fight, since his parents hid all the ghost weapons from him.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, what brings you here?" Sam asked. Danny looked quizzically at her. She sounded odd.

"Don't worry Sam, we're here to make sure no ghosts can take Danny," his dad said and gave him a heavy pat on the back.

Out of the corner of his eye, Danny noticed Dash and the others. At least now that they knew he was Danny Phantom, Danny didn't need to put up with more embarrassment and jibes. He loved his parents, but being with them could be embarrassing at times.

A loud sound made Danny jump. He looked up. Above the smoking gun his father was holding was a hole. As one, all the eyes in the hall focused on Jack Fenton. The large man quickly hid the large gun behind his back where it mysteriously disappeared.

"Nothing to see here folks," he said loudly," Just having some target practice."

The hall became a lot emptier than it was a few moments ago.

"Youngsters nowadays are fast. Do you think they can't wait for class to start?" his father wondered aloud. Danny found it easier to just nod and smile.

"Today's class might be interesting. We'd better go now," Sam said. Danny took the cue and walked towards his friends. A heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Don't worry about the ghosts Danny boy, we'll stick to you like glue," his father said and kept his arm over Danny's shoulder so that they walked side by side.

"You don't have to come to class with us, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. Class can be very boring," Tucker said.

"Nonsense. We were students before," his father said.

"I heard the cafeteria's serving fudge today," Sam said.

"Fudge!" Mr. Fenton's eyes lit up.

"And I think there were some ghosts on field. If you hurry, they might still be there," Tucker added.

"Ghosts!" Both parents lifted their weapons. The three friends waited for the two adults to leave.

"Aren't you going to go to the field?" Tucker asked.

"Or the cafeteria?" Sam added.

"And leave Danny unprotected? What if the ghost attacks are diversions?" Maddie replied.

"What if they aren't?" Sam pointed out.

The adults silently mulled over the possibility.

"One of us can…" His mum started.

The sound of weapons being fired interrupted her.

"I'll get you," Red Huntress' voice reached their ears. His mum made up her mind.

"We aren't the only ghost hunters around. Red Huntress can take care of it. It's more important that we make sure the ghosts don't try to kidnap Danny again."

So _now_ his parents acknowledged that there were other ghost hunters who could handle things. Being with his friends in the ghost hunting business for so long, he could guess what Sam and Tucker were trying to do. Usually, their distractions would work perfectly, but usually, his parents were more obsessed about ghosts than him.

Danny winced as he felt a sharp sting in his chest. He started to bring a hand up discretely to rub his chest but before his hand passed his waist, a numb feeling replaced the sting. The numbness disappeared abruptly and he couldn't help but wonder if he had imagined the whole thing.

"Now, let's go. Class is going to start soon."

They were forced to go to class with his _parents_. If he didn't have more important things to worry about, he would be dying of embarrassment.

Valerie entered the room just before the bell rang and took her seat. Sam and Tucker look angrily at her.

"What?"

_The next day…_

"Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! What's that?"

Sam and Tucker grabbed him the moment his parents looked away and ran. They only managed to turn the corner before his parents caught up with them.

"We wanted to get Danny out of the way, just in case there's a ghost trying to hurt him," Sam explained before they could accuse them of anything.

"That's good, but you don't have to run next time. We won't let them do anything to you." His dad beamed.

Sam and Tucker spent the rest of the day trying to come up with a different plan.

_The day after that…_

"Danny, we're kidnapping you," Sam whispered in his ear a second before they pulled him.

Right in front of his parents.

"They're going to kill you," Danny hissed.

"No they won't," Sam replied confidently.

They turned the corner, raced to the exit, and were stopped by his mum.

"How did she get there so fast?" Tucker asked.

Front path blocked, they tried to backtrack but his dad was behind them. They had no choice but to stop. Sam and Tucker steeled themselves for the consequences of their attempted kidnapping. Danny tried to think of something that he could say that would help them.

His dad stopped before them and rested his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. After a minute or so of huffing, he straightened himself and looked at them sternly. Heart pounding, Danny clenched his fists.

The smile that appeared on his dad's face was the last thing he expected.

"I know you want to do things you don't want us adults to know about but we need to know where you are or we won't be able to help Danny if something goes wrong," his dad said.

Thank God his dad was so _dense_.

_The day after the day after that…_

"I am the BOX GHOST!"

"What did you do?" Tucker asked Sam as they crouched under the lunch table.

"I told Box Ghost I'll give him a warehouse full of boxes if he could kidnap Danny," Sam answered.

"You _paid_ Box Ghost to kidnap me?" he asked.

"Technically, I didn't _pay_ him."

"Ignoring that, why?"

"Why not? Your parents aren't letting you out of their sight."

"Isn't it a little desperate?"

"It's not a little. We're very desperate."

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Box Ghost wailed as he was sucked into the thermos.

The three of them slumped against the bench.

"Ok. I'm out of ideas," Sam said.

"That fast?" Danny asked.

"Dude, it's a lot harder to kidnap someone than you think," Tucker said.

* * *

Reviews will be very nice.


	4. Chapter 4

This is late. I have no excuse for this. I apologize. Hope the chapter is good enough to make up for it?

* * *

He never noticed when the other halfa entered the dining hall, only that when he looked up, Daniel was already there.

"Have a seat," Vlad said and gestured towards the chair on his right, knowing that without a prompt, Daniel could stay motionless for hours. He almost had a heart attack the night he found out that Daniel had not moved for two days while he had been busy taking care of some errands.

"Good morning Daniel," Vlad greeted after the boy had sat down. The white-haired teen did not respond.

"Let's eat." Vlad started his meal, careful to keep an eye on the teen beside him, least the boy accidentally choke himself.

Daniel had been minimally responsive ever since that unfortunate incident in the ghost prison but that was fine. He had learnt not to demand for an immediate response after Daniel almost destroyed his room. The boy was immensely vulnerable and because of that, immensely powerful. He was a double edged sword. Vlad had to tread carefully.

When Vlad was halfway through his meal, Daniel looked down as if registering the presence of the food before him for the first time. With agonizingly slow movements, Daniel picked up the fork and started to eat. Daniel would probably stop eating when he did, regardless of the amount of food left on the plate. With his speed, it usually meant that most of the food would be left untouched. If Daniel's appetite did not improve, he would need to consider another mean of consumption for young Daniel.

"You have the rest of the morning free. Do what you want. Lunch will be here at one. I expect you to dress appropriately as you are now," Vlad said.

Daniel gave no reply but Vlad let it go. Even though Daniel never responded, the boy listened to his instructions. He must still be suffering from the staged betrayal. Vlad would give him some time, but he would not wait forever.

After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Vlad excused himself from the table. Daniel gave no indication of noticing his leave.

"Keep an eye on him," Vlad ordered. The ghost vulture waiting by the dining hall gave a nod and flew away.

Daniel was already in his hand. It was time he focused on obtaining Maddie as well. Jazz should be able to live on her own, but he hoped that, being the brilliant girl she was, she would make the right choice by choosing him. As for Jack, perhaps the first task he should assign young Daniel was to eliminate Jack Fenton.

Entering his hidden lab, he transformed into Plasmius. Skulker was waiting for him.

"Plasmius," Skulker greeted.

"Your task is to bring Maddie Fenton here at this time eight days from now. You will receive your usual reward if you succeed," he said.

"Understood," Skulker said gruffly and flew into the ghost portal.

Left alone, Vlad let his transformation rings wash over him. He had a week to fine tune the contraption he made for dear Maddie. The fiery woman would never join him, especially after knowing of his plan to adopt the ghost child. That was why he needed to make some adjustments to her subconscious.

After all, a wife should submit to her husband.

* * *

A loud snore almost made him break his chalk. He looked away from the blackboard and sent the two adults in his class a thinly veiled look of annoyance.

"Mr. Fenton, Mrs. Fenton, I see no need to torture yourself by being present when you can do something more productive," Lancer said, careful not to explode on the ghost hunters. They were not his students after all. However, that meant that they shouldn't be in his class in the first place.

"Thank you for your concern but we are spending our time productively," Mrs. Fenton said and shook her husband to wake him. The snores persisted.

"Jack," she called out softly.

"Fudge," Tucker said.

"Ghost," Sam added.

The large man immediately sat up.

"Fudge! Ghost!" he yelled.

The teenagers snickered. Lancer fought the urge to give Mr. Fenton, senior, detention. _Twelfth Night_, he never knew there was someone more disruptive than Daniel in his class. At least Daniel usually had a solid reason for being disruptive. How did Mr. Fenton graduate from university? The man was sleeping in his class for crying out loud.

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer started. When two individuals responded he added, "Senior. Perhaps a quick visit to the restroom to wash your face would be good."

"Nah, it's okay. Carry on with whatever you're doing," Daniel's father replied easily.

"If so, I would appreciate it if you do not disrupt the class or I will be forced to make you leave. As I was saying." Lancer returned to the lesson, working hard to pretend that he did not have two parents in his classroom.

Or rather, two parents only by name?

No matter how much he thought about it, he could not believe that a mother would abandon her own son like that. She literally _delivered_ her son into a metaphorical gate of Hell. What happened to that _connection_ between mother and child? What happened to the intuition women were so proud of?

_Catcher in the rye_, how could she be so _blind_?

She claimed to know her son, but she could not recognize him. She did not know him enough to realize that the two Danny's were telling the truth. Even if she claimed to be in denial at that time, she had no right to say that she knows Daniel. He was a teacher, facing a class of young teenagers, yet he had realized that Daniel was in pain. The boy had been rubbing his chest with a pained expression more and more frequently with each day. The Fenton's were just beside him, but they noticed nothing.

A pained look crossed Daniel's face and his lips parted in a silent cry of pain. He carefully brought a hand up to rub his chest and winced. Blue eyes looked up and widened when they met his. He could see the pale fist over his shirt start to tremble. Daniel's eyes jumped back and forth between him and his parents. His charge probably thought that he was going to inform the two older Fenton's about the chest pains Daniel was experiencing.

Lancer gave Daniel a small shake of his head. The halfa seemed to interpret his action correctly and relaxed. Lancer turned his full attention back to his lesson.

The Fenton's needed to discover some things on their own, preferably before those chest pains got any worse.

* * *

I hope that this chapter was an enjoyable read and I really, really hope I can update the next one in time. What I'm putting up is diverting from what I've writen down.


	5. Chapter 5

Ah hah! Bet most of you didn't expect this update. Which is my fault really. Remember a long, _long_ time ago when I said that I would finish up everything eventually? Here's one chapter. Not sure when the next one would come but it'll get here, eventually. In the mean time, thanks for those who have waited for this chapter and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm pretty sure we've established that.

* * *

Vlad was startled out of his thoughts by a plate that appeared out of nowhere. He stared at the loaded plate, where it sat oh so innocently on the documents he was working on, then looked up to a surprising sight.

Daniel stood before his desk. His green eyes betrayed no emotions, but the fact remained that Daniel had entered Vlad's study out of his own will and, by the looks of it, had brought Vlad lunch when Vlad failed to turn up in the dining hall. He fought down a triumphant smile.

"Thank you, Daniel. You may leave." He lifted the plate so that he could set it aside and continue with his work. A hand shot out to pin the plate in place.

"Eat," a voice said, soft with disuse. A glowing hand pushed a laden spoon at his face. Vlad grabbed the thin wrist before the spoon could touch him.

"I can feed myself." Anyway, there was too much food on the spoon for him to eat in a mouthful without looking sloppy.

Daniel stayed where he was and looked ready to wait with his spoon for a whole day. Vlad wasn't sure whether to continue his work – because he did not actually have any obligation to humour Daniel – or to set his work aside to eat lunch. His decision was made for him when the key appeared and floated around Daniel's head.

Vlad held out his hand.

"Give me the spoon, and I will eat."

While he ate, Vlad kept an eye on the key. At first glance, the key looked like a curious tourist, flying in lazy circles around his things, but a closer look revealed that the key had a destination in mind. Vlad dragged out his meal as long as possible to give him more time for observation. His patience was rewarded.

"Thank you, Daniel," Vlad said as he set down his cutlery. Daniel took the empty plate without a word and left.

The moment Daniel went through the door, Vlad turned to study the key, which was hovering around one of his bookshelves. Vlad quietly left his table and made his way towards the key. Maybe this time...

As if sensing his eyes on it, the key came to a sudden stop. Then without warning, it dove and struck one of the rare photographs that adorned his bookshelves.

Vlad dashed forward and carefully pried the key out of the photograph. The key came out easily, leaving the glass intact, and stayed solid in his hand. When he was certain that the key wouldn't disappear on him, he studied the photograph more carefully for any tears.

There were no tears in the photograph, but there was a small circle around Daniel's eye in the picture, where the key went through earlier. In the circle, Daniel's blue eye had turned green, and any hair in the circle were white, giving him an otherworldly look as he smiled out of the photograph through mismatched eyes.

Perhaps, it was time for him to check on the other Daniel.

* * *

When Danny didn't respond for the fifth time, Sam poked his side. Danny jerked upright in his seat with a startled gasp.

"Daniel, are you feeling ill?" Mr. Lancer asked, having given up calling Danny 'Mr. Fenton Junior'. Mr. Fenton Senior wasn't good at many things. Being a student was one of them. But to be fair, he'd gotten better over the week. He no longer interrupted the whole class when he woke up.

"I'm fine," Danny said.

"No he's not," Sam cut in. Danny turned pleading eyes towards her, which she replied with a determined look. His fist was still rubbing his chest. Beads of sweat dotted his forehead. One traveled down a too pale cheek and followed his almost white neck beneath his shirt. The biggest giveaway was his breathing. She was familiar with that particular pattern. A deep breath to replace a groan, a few shallow ones to try and push away the pain, and the occasional long pause because he was afraid that if he exhaled, it'll come out as something that he wouldn't be able to disguise.

When Sam wouldn't back down, Danny tried to insist that he was fine, but when his mouth opened, a strangled yell was released instead. His fingers tightened against his chest, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell off his chair. Mr. Fenton dashed out to catch Danny, but when Danny's back met Mr. Fenton's arms, his whole body turned intangible, and he fell _through_ them.

It was a few seconds before anyone reacted.

"Danny!"

They huddled around him. Those too far tried their best to peek without looking like they cared about the class loser. Sam could see Dash sitting on his hands in an effort not to help Danny. Touching, but she could do better. At least he was trying. Paulina wasn't even bothering to hide her concern. After this, they needed acting lessons.

Mr. Fenton pulled Danny into his arms. This time, Danny stayed put. Which was a good thing. Once could be a trick on the mind, twice would be hard to explain. Sam concocted a plausible excuse in her head as Danny's parents got up and headed for the door, just in case. Sam and Tucker tried to follow - because where Danny was, they would be also - but Mrs. Fenton stopped them.

"But we want to help Danny," Sam protested.

"I know. But..."

A ringtone interrupted Mrs. Fenton. She pulled out her mobile.

"Hello? Oh. It's you. I'm a little busy right now."

Sam and Tucker took the opportunity to slip past Mrs. Fenton. They urged Mr. Fenton to start moving. Fortunately, he didn't seem to have much problem with them skipping class to follow the Fentons. By the time Mrs. Fenton noticed them, they were in the RV, all buckled in.

"Who was that?" Mr. Fenton asked as Mrs. Fenton climbed in.

"Vlad."

Sam stiffened. Vlad calling just after Danny collapsed. Coincidence? She wasn't born yesterday. Something was up.

A short discussion later, Mr. Fenton turned around and announced that they were going to go to Vlad's mansion "because three heads are better than two". He offered to drop them off home, but Sam and Tucker refused. Danny would have their heads if they let his parents go into Vlad's mansion unsupervised.

* * *

Damon looked down at the documents in his hand. To pass or not to pass? Mr. Masters hadn't been to the office for a few days, and who knew for how long more he was going to work from home. What if the documents needed to be read immediately?

He looked around to see if anyone else could pass the documents to Mr. Masters, but the building was empty. It seemed that everyone else had left while he was contemplating over the documents.

Fine. He'd do it.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. And I hope you don't have to wait long for the next chapter. If you do, I hope that you will have patience. No angry mobs?


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